An internal combustion engine is equipped with a fresh air system to supply combustion chambers of the internal combustion engine. Such a fresh air system extends in the usual manner from an inlet, via which the fresh air enters the fresh air system from an environment, to an outlet section, from which the fresh air is distributed to the individual combustion chambers of the internal combustion engine. Different components of the fresh air system can be arranged between the inlet section and the outlet section. Generally, at least one air filter is arranged between the inlet section and the outlet section, said air filter having a filter element in a filter housing in order to filter the fresh air supplied to the internal combustion engine. Furthermore, at least one silencer, an air flow meter, a charge device and a charge air cooler, for example, can be arranged in a fresh air system.
In certain installation situations, in particular in vehicles, it is often desirable for the inlet section and the filter housing each to be connected fixedly to a periphery of the internal combustion engine, as a result of which said components are arranged for example in a stationary manner in an engine compartment of a vehicle. In any case, the inlet section and the filter housing are arranged in a stationary manner relative to each other. It can also be necessary for reasons of installation space to connect the inlet section via a connecting section to a housing cover of the filter housing, which acts to close the filter housing and can be removed to change the filter element. In this case, the connection between the above-mentioned connecting section and the housing cover must previously be undone in order to be able to remove the housing cover from the housing, to change the filter element. However, this is comparatively laborious, since the inlet section, which is connected to the connecting section, is connected fixedly to the periphery of the internal combustion engine when the fresh air system is in the installed state. This makes the structure of the fresh air system comparatively complex. Exchanging a filter element is also comparatively complex as a result.